How to Manage Difficult Agents
The housing market is starting to get back on its feet and many homebuyers and investors have run into agents that are far from easy to get along with. There are many great brokers out there, but what do you do when you run across a difficult agent? There could be any number of reasons a realtor is being difficult, so your first step should be figuring out what the issue is. Below are some tips on how to work with difficult agents.
Inquiry Issues
One major issue is that many realtors do not answer inquiries into their listings about properties. This can happen for a number of reasons, some of which can’t be helped. Whether it’s simply that they didn’t receive your message, they are focused on another property or buyer, or they are just simply slacking, it can be a very big problem for the market. People quickly tire of trying to make contact on a property with no answers or courtesy call back.
Stop Being Ignored
There are a few ways to combat this and get a realtor to be more serious about your inquiry. You can try calling their office directly and asking to speak with their assistant or another agent that may be available. You can illustrate your offer more clearly to let them know you are interested. Or you can attempt to hire your own broker and allow them to do the dirty work of calling the representing broker for the property.
Get Your Offer to the Owner
Unfortunately there are times when your offer simply isn’t making it to the hands of the property owner. There are a number of reasons this, including things like your offer being too low for their asking price, your down deposit not being enough, or something as little as not liking the contract form you used. A few solutions are to re-submit your offer through your own agent, speak with the realtor’s boss, or even going right to the seller directly to make sure they receive your offer. You can also make a better offer overall or on the initial deposit. To help strengthen your offer, be sure you know your market and do your research.
The bottom line is that a difficult agent is not your only source for available homes. There is an entire market of “for sale by owner” properties, foreclosure sales and even real estate wholesale as viable options for your consideration. If you are completely in love with a home, attempt to work with the realtor, or go to the seller directly, but don’t let your emotions get in the way or you could end up paying far more than you considered.